Dam It, or Undam It!

Writing this on impulse, 'on the fly', in haste, whatever, upon Mr. C relating to me another of Biden's sneaky, dirty, underhanded, slimy actions about the dams on the Snake River, which winds through Oregon, Idaho, and Washington state (I hate having to use that identifier!).

The administration has signed a deal with eco-terrorist groups and Pacific Northwest Indian tribes to basically have the Indians and ecos stop suing the government, and the government will blow up the 4 dams on the Snake River. I'm too wound up to go identify them --- I'll do an edit later --- but, ostensibly, the salmon are endangered, and removing the dams enables them to start laying eggs in their ancestral homes again.

First — how many generations of salmon have hatched since the dams were built? Do they still have the imperative directive imprinted in their DNA to make THAT journey upstream? Second — weren't there 'fish ladders' built along those dams to encourage the spawning upstream, or am I remembering my learning about them in school wrong? (I graduated from HS in 1974, and went to school in Kansas. I had 'Kansas History' in the 7th grade, I think it was for 9 weeks, so got a better than average exposure to 'book learning', than is being taught today, I bet.)

Third — there are a LOT of people on the downstream side of those dams. Businesses, schools, churches, hospitals, families; where are they going to go? Fourth — there are a LOT of people living on the banks of the lakes created by the dams. Businesses, schools, families: where are they going to go? A BIG business on both sides of the dam is recreation. Boating, fishing, hotels, camps, restaurants, gas stations, rentals, gift shops; they all depend on the dams for their livelihoods.

Something else everyone living and working in those areas depends on: electricity. Hydroelectric power is one the cleanest and most reliable forms of electricity available, and this deal would ELIMINATE it. Am I exaggerating the cost of destroying these dams could run into the trillions in lost jobs, businesses, homes, schools, churches, ecological damages? What damage to the environment will happen when the newly released waters of the Snake hit vacated gas stations, fuel storage facilities, scrap metal recycling yards, tire scrapping facilities, oil reclamation sites? Not to mention all the buildings destroyed — how many of them still have asbestos and lead paint?

How much electricity is generated by those dams? How many homes, businesses, schools, hospitals, PEOPLE, are served by that electricity? Where will the electricity come from then? Solar panels, wind turbines? Give me a break (no. please don't! Still recovering from my first one!). Might as well be unicorn farts and pixie dust, for all the good solar and wind will do. Solar — how much sun does Washington state (!) and Oregon get? Idaho might get slightly more, but still not enough electricity to matter. Wind? There are a few mountains in the area that might get windy, but the cost of building turbines on them? Pl-e-a-s-s-s-e! Environmentalists, ski businesses, who knows? would be screaming to sue! And again, how much electricity could be produced?

Mr.C also related how there are a few state legislators promising to fight this action. Seems Biden just traded one set legal actions for another set, hmmmmmm?

Update (this will upset my place in the queue, I know...) on edit: I did several searches for the names of the dams. All I could get were articles written about breaking the dams for the salmon. No names were in any article, dammit! Maybe some nice Rico folks could find them? It'd be much appreciated!